Indoor playground at Engedi Church a source of pride for Sinclair Recreation

Tuesday

Mar 25, 2014 at 7:00 AM

By Brian.VanOchten@hollandsentinel.com(616) 546-4279

In its first decade of operation, Sinclair Recreation of Holland has installed more than 1,000 playgrounds in public parks, schoolyards and churches throughout Michigan and Indiana.All of them have been labors of love.A recent installation at Engedi Church, 710 Chicago Drive, in Holland, is a particular source of pride for company president Diane Sinclair and vice president Rich Sinclair. The indoor playground, which cost approximately $25,000, is a one-of-kind space that has the potential to be “life-changing” for children who otherwise might not have a place to play.“It’s just an amazing use of space,” Diane Sinclair said. “There’s no other public park within several miles of this church. It was definitely needed in this area. Some people will come to play who might never set foot inside a church. That alone is worth doing the project.”The multi-hued, tubular-steel structure incorporates outdoor equipment in a functional indoor space.The most unique aspect of the playground, featuring two large slides, rubber floor tiles, trees painted on the walls and kites hung from the ceiling, is that it’s open to the public. All children, regardless of religious affiliation, are welcome to come indoors three times per week — Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. — to have some fun.“We did this to attract people who wouldn’t traditionally go to church or maybe had a bad experience with church in the past. We’re in a non-traditional building anyhow,” Engedi Kids Pastor Jenni Sandstedt said of the former Kmart store that has been turned into a place of worship. “It’s just a great way to invite a friend or neighbor to come in and play.”Sinclair Recreation, exclusive distributor of GameTime commercial playground equipment in Michigan, has done installations throughout the Holland area. It includes the Carter’s Kids Foundation playground on Windmill Island, which was dedicated last May.The Windmill Island project was part of a collaboration with HGTV star, Nautica fragrance model and Lake Michigan Credit Union spokesperson Carter Oosterhouse. He and Sinclair Recreation work together to install one playground per month in the U.S.“It has been such a blessing for us,” Diane Sinclair said of the partnership with Oosterhouse. “We get to do a lot of projects that we could never get to do otherwise.”The one-day installation at Engedi was accomplished with the help of volunteers.“We’re especially proud of the project at Engedi Church,” Diane Sinclair said. “It was a fun indoor project. You can’t take kids to play outside in the middle of winter when it’s 3 degrees. The beauty of using outdoor equipment indoors is that it’s much more durable and it’ll last forever.”Engedi Church uses the playground space as part of its Sunday worship services.“The kids all sit on the ‘grass’ and sometimes the band sits and plays on the play structure,” Sandstedt said. “It’s fun. There are so many activities on the structure, I don’t even know what they all are.”“I have the best job in the world,” Diane Sinclair said of helping put smiles on children’s faces through playground installations. “Our next Carter’s Kids Foundation project is taking us to Albuquerque, N.M., to install a playground on an Indian reservation. We’re taking our children on that trip. It’s projects like these that make all of the other ones we do worth it.“It’s going to make a difference and it’s going to change someone’s life.”And Sinclair Recreation is proudest of being able to make an impact in its own community.“We collaborated with them on the design of the playground for about six months,” Diane Sinclair said of the Engedi Church project. “We do a lot of playgrounds locally, but this one is special. If it’s in your community, you want to make sure it’s done exactly right.”— Follow this reporter on Twitter @BizHolland.